SpaceRef - Exploration and Missions - Robotic Missions

Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorer (AMPTE) - AMPTE was designed to study the access of solar-wind ions to the magnetosphere, the convective-diffusive transport and energization of magnetospheric particles, and the interactions of plasmas in space. The mission consisted of three spacecraft: the CCE, the IRM, which provided multiple ion releases in the solar wind, the magnetosheath, and the magnetotail, with in situ diagnostics of each, and the UKS, which used thrusters to keep station near the IRM to provide two-point local measurements. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

AEROS - The scientific goal of the two Aeros satellites (1972-3, 1974-5) was the global measurement of the ionospheric-plasma and its dependency on the altitude, geographical reference locations, as well as daytime and change of the season dependencies. [DLR]

Akebono (EXOS-D) - This mission's focus was upon plasma dynamic observation of aurora and verification of particle acceleration theory. Center for Planning and Information Systems, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.

AMM: Auroral Multiscale Midex - AMM will use a cluster of four identical mini-satellites flying in formation through the M-I interaction region of the Earth's magnetosphere. AMM will answer critical questions regarding the linkage of the distant magnetosphere to the ionosphere, and the generation of aurora. [Johns Hopkins University]

AMPTE - This was a Tri-lateral project (1984-1986) between USA, UK and Germany for studying the solar wind and initiating the first artificial comet. [DLR]

ASCE: Advanced Solar Coronal Explorer mission - ASCE comprises a large aperture Spectroscopic and Polarimetric Coronagraph (SPC), a deployable mast that supports a remote external occulter, and a high cadence Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI). Spectroscopic diagnostic techniques will be used to describe the coronal plasma in the regions where extended heating and acceleration of protons and heavy ions are known to occur. The ASCE payload is accommodated on a NASA GSFC Spartan 400 Carrier to be deployed and retrieved by the Space Shuttle. [Harvard University]

AZUR - This 1969 mission was the first co-operative project between USA and Germany. The scientific objectives of this mission were to study the inner radiation belt, the auroral zones of the Northern Hemisphere, and the spectral variations of solar particles during solar flares. [DLR]

CHAllenging Microsatellite Payload (CHAMP) - CHAMP is a small satellite mission for geoscientific research and applications. CHAMP is designed to study global long- to medium-wavelength recovery of the static and time variable earth gravity field from orbit perturbation analyses, global Earth magnetic and electric field mapping, and atmosphere/ionosphere sounding. [GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam]

Cluster II / Phoenix - The European Space Agency's Cluster II mission consists of four identical spacecraft flying in formation above the Earth where they will study the planet's magnetic field and electric surroundings in three dimensions. In particular, they will be looking at the effects of the solar wind

Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) - CRRES was launched in 1990 to investigate fields, plasmas, and energetic particles inside the Earth's magnetosphere. It stopped operating in 1991. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]

Envisat-1 - Envisat-1 is a satellite dedicated to the study of the earth and atmosphere environment. With its launch planned by the end of the decade, Envisat-1 is a multidisciplinary mission having science and application objectives, continuing and extending the ERS 1 and ERS-2 mission objectives, and building up a coherent European Earth observation programme.

EQUATOR-S - This project is a contribution to the Inter-Agency Solar-Terrestrial Physics Programme (ISTP). Seven instruments provided by international scientist groups study the solar wind and charged particles trapped in the earth´s magnetosphere. [DLR]

Freja Magnetic Field Experiment Home Page - The Swedish satellite, FREJA, is in the auroral zone a significant amount of the time. Ionospheric current systems are monitored by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) Magnetic Field Experiment (MFE).

GED: Global Electrodynamics - This proposed mission is composed of two satellites, in polar orbits that will provide a combination of in-situ measurement and remote sensing of energetic particle and magnetic field perturbations.

Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) - GRACE will map Earth's gravity fields by making accurate measurements of the distance between the two satellites, using GPS and a microwave ranging system. [University of Texas]

Hawkeye - The Hawkeye spacecraft (or Explorer 52) carried a payload of three scientific instruments: a plasma wave receiver, a fluxgate magnetometer, and a low energy proton-electron differential energy analyzer. The spacecraft was launched in 1974 and re-entered in 1978. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

HELIOS - This was the first US/German interplanetary mission. HELIOS 1 was launched in 1974 HELIOS 2 in 1976. Both probes studied the interaction of the sun and the earth. [DLR]

IMAGE: Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration - IMAGE will be launched in February 2000 and will obtain the first global images of the major plasma regions and boundaries in the Earth's inner magnetosphere and will study the dynamic response of these plasma populations to variations in the flow of charged particles from the Sun. [Southwest Research Institute]

IMEX: Inner Magnetosphere Explorer - IMEX is scheduled for launch in mid-2001 with a mission to study the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere during major geomagnetic storms. It will be the first mission in the inner magnetosphere to contain a full complement of field and particle detectors - especially electric fields. [University of Minnesota]

International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) - The ISEE program used three satellites to study the Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind. The plasma wave investigations aboard each spacecraft provided basic information on wave-particle interactions in the regions explored.

Interplanetary Monitoring Platform- 8 (IMP-8 or IMP-J) - IMP-8 was launched in1973 to measure the magnetic fields, plasmas, and energetic charged particles of the Earth's magnetotail and magnetosheath and of the near-Earth solar wind. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Magnetospheric Multiscale - This mission will study the basic plasma processes that transport, accelerate, and energize plasmas in thin boundary and current layers-the processes which control the structure and dynamics of the Earth's magnetosphere. Magnetospheric Multiscale consists of four identical spacecraft, flying in a tetrahedral configuration. Each spacecraft will contain an identical set of 3D instruments to measure plasma electron and ion composition, energetic electron and ion composition, magnetometer, electric fields and waves.

SeaWinds: Scatterometry on QuikSCAT - The SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite is a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. The SeaWinds on QuikSCAT mission is a "quick recovery" mission to fill the gap created by the loss of data from the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT), when the satellite it was flying on lost power in June 1997. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]

Solar-B - Solar-B is a mission proposed as a follow-on to the Japan/US/UK Yohkoh (Solar-A) collaboration. The mission consists of a coordinated set of optical, EUV and X-ray instruments that will investigate the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its corona. [NASA Marshall Space Flight Center]

STEREO: Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory - The proposed STEREO mission will provide a totally new perspective on solar eruptions and their consequences for Earth by providing the images for a stereo reconstruction of solar eruptions. Two spacecraft would be used, one will lead Earth in its orbit and one will be lagging. Each will carry a cluster of telescopes. [Johns Hopkins University]

Student Nitric Oxide Explorer. (SNOE) - SNOE is a small scientific satellite that is measuring the effects of energy from the sun and from the magnetosphere on the density of nitric oxide in the Earth's upper atmosphere. [Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado]

TIMED: Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics - TIMED will be launched in 2000. The primary objective of the TIMED mission is to investigate and understand the energetics of the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/ Ionosphere (MLTI) region. [Johns Hopkins University]

Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) - TRACE explores the magnetic field in the solar atmosphere by studying: the 3-dimensional field structure, its temporal evolution in response to photospheric flows, the time-dependent coronal fine structure , and the coronal and transition region thermal topology. [Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Labs].

TWINS, Two Wide Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers - TWINS will be launched in 2001 or 2003 and will provide stereo imaging of the Earth's magnetosphere. TWINS will enable three- dimensional global visualization of this region, which will lead to greatly enhanced understanding of the connections between different regions of the magnetosphere and their relation to the solar wind. [Los Alamos National Laboratory]

Ulysses Mission - The Ulysses Mission is the first spacecraft to explore interplanetary space at high solar latitudes. The spacecraft was launched on Oct. 6, 1990 by the shuttle Discovery. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]

Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) - WIRE's mission was to discover how galaxies change through time. WIRE is now in its proper orbit, with all instrumentation functioning properly, but due to a malfunction, is unable to carry out the science mission without the hydrogen cryogen. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]

Yohkoh SXT - Yohkoh is an observatory for studying X-rays and gamma-rays from the Sun launched in 1991. Yohkoh is a project of the Institute for Space and Astronautical Sciences. The spacecraft was built in Japan and the observing instruments have contributions from the U.S. and from the U.K. [Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Labs].